Tessa's 1st Christmas

The holidays have come and gone and Matt (most unfortunately) has to go back to work on Monday. Tessa's 1st Christmas was wonderful - filled with lots of friends and family and lots of firsts. Matt's dad, Billy, came to stay with us over the holidays and Tessa really loved all the attention Grampie gave her - so much so that she wanted to be carried around all the time after he left! We hosted Christmas lunch/dinner at our house again and in addition to Billy, my mom (Sheila) and dad (George), sister Tara and boyfriend Dave made the trek up from Toronto. We hardly made a dent in our 20lb turkey but the dinner went off without a hitch, even with the addition of some new recipes (apricot glazed pork tenderloin and caramel pot-au-creme for dessert!). Missing this year was Pearl, but we know that she was watching the whole fiasco from above - especially as the three of us tried to figure out how to cook the turkey overnight and how to make gravy - two of her specialities. It was great talking to Matt's brother, Mark and his girlfriend Ashley in Calgary and the gang in Nova Scotia via Skype on Boxing Day - it was so nice to see everyone doing so well. A few days after Christmas, we headed to Toronto to see the rest of the Comisso family. Aunty Sandy hosted a wonderful New Year's Eve dinner and New Year's Day Open House. We loved introducing Tessa to my cousin Alessandra and husband (Adrian) and niece and nephew, Anna and Allan who were visiting from Mexico. The kids were hilarious as per usual and so much fun to be around! We're just finishing up the last week of our holidays which was very laid back (except for all of the shovelling Matt had to do!) and not looking forward to getting back to the daily grind. Tessa is growing like a weed and really coming into her own. She laughed for the first time a few days ago as a result of Daddy making some pretty silly faces.  Here's to a memorable 2011! A